𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞

36 | Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ

- AUTHOR'S POV -

"Now tell me." Prerna said sitting properly on the bed while her hands were busy rubbing the towel on her wet hair. Abhiraj took a deep breath and immediately his nose filled with her scent which always calms him down.

Abhiraj took her in his arms and made her sit comfortably in his lap. She smiled as he took the towel from her hands and started drying her hair. She wrapped her legs around his waist and just sat there lookind at his features keenly.

"Tell me" she demanded again making Abhiraj kiss her cheek lovingly. She looks so cute in his tshirt and shorts. Even though they are oversized to the point that the shorts totally covered by his tshirt. He can arrange new clothes for her but she demanded him for his clothes. What can he do? he really loves it when she demands something from him.

"Okay" he sighed staring at his favourite doe eyes which are looking at him with anticipation and curiosity. He looked down and slowly held her small hand in his rough ones and caressed her hand sofly with his thumb.

"Do you know about bua's husband?" He asked her making her nod vigorously.

"I know. Anisha told me that he died 2 years ago in an accident. She even said that his dead body was unrecognizable. "Prerna said remembering Anisha's words.

Abhiraj nodded his head and continued speaking. "His name was Harshvardhan Shukla. He was pitaji's bestfriend. Being his bestfriend he used to come to the mansion regularly. I was small boy back then. Maybe 6 years old. I don't remember anything but I know that he married bua even when Dadi was against their marriage. Dadi strictly warned her daughter to stay away from him but the next day she eloped with that person and came back married.

Dadi was so devastated and thrown her out of the house after cutting all the ties with her. But being a good brother and the bestfriend my father convinced dadi to accept them, which she eventually did.

Harshvardhan Shukla was a great business man. Becoming a king was never my choice but a businessman was. He was my inspiration in every thing I did. He was the one who motivated me in my every step. My father used to be so busy in his works and with my brother and sister that he never had anytime for me as dadi was the one who mostly looked after me. But the way Harshvardhan treated me I used to see him as my father. I wanted attention and wanted someone to talk to me about toys and games than lecturing me about responsibilities. I got them from him. Harshvardhan.

But what I failed to notice was the wicked intentions Harshvardhan had from the very beginning. He made me the man who is the worst version of me. He made me arrogant businessman who is very overconfident. I failed to notice that He always had an eye on the wealth and properties. His plan was to make me against my father and he almost got successful in it. Almost."

He sighed closing his eyes. Prerna gently caressing his arm making his tensed muscles relax. He continued

"My father and I had a huge fight that day. There was an issue in the office and we hired investigator. Pitaji told him to investigate on Harshvardhan because he was suspicious of him. I being the stubborn man started the fight that how can he doubt the person who is more like a father figure to me, than calmly thinking about the situation. It was my fault to jump into the conclusions but the child in me always saw a father in him and allowing them to investigate on Harshvardhan will be a disrespect, that is what I thought.

That day, when we threw harsh words to each other, and he left the place aggressively. Maa was crying so much and everything was a mess that night. In the midnight we got a call from a guard saying tha p-pitaji met with an a-accident"

Prerna pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back after noticing the small tears brimming in his eyes and the cracking of his voice at the end. Abhiraj gulped the lump and started speaking